40C Restoration - The Evolution of GrubWorm

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DiggerLarry
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40C Restoration - The Evolution of GrubWorm

Post by DiggerLarry » Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:11 pm

It's taken me a while to get going on this but I have finally started restoration of my 1954 5 roller 40C. I bought this machine in 2003. I named it GrubWorm as my neighbor said that's what he thought it looked like. It ran good and had nice compression so I will not have to overhaul the engine.

The tracks are a mess. I think one is not even JD chain. Certainly not for a 40 as the links are larger/longer. The other very worn. Those will be scraped and I have a nice set of 40 chain and regular pads to put on her. Of course some of the rollers are in sad shape. It steers OK but one of the brakes doesn't work too well. It has one welded clutch case so that will need replacing.

I has a JD 61 bulldozer blade that has had a second cylinder added. I'm big on originality but, I like the second cylinder and it's done pretty well, mirroring the original components on the other side.

I'm going to take it completely apart and redo it all, if I don't go bankrupt first. It may take a while as I don't have a lot of free time these days but I currently have a few weeks free to devote to getting started. I thought you guys might like to see the evolution so I'll start a journal of the project here.

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Post by Lavoy » Fri Apr 25, 2014 8:27 am

Can't wait to see the progress.
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Parts and restoration for antique and late model John Deere crawlers.
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DiggerLarry
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Day 1 - We Begin

Post by DiggerLarry » Fri Apr 25, 2014 11:18 pm

Today, I was going to start GrubWorm and move it out to my other shop. Would not turn over. Put a pipe wrench on the PTO and it moved just a bit. Stuck. Odd since it has been under roof in a shed and has a rain cap on the stack. Can't figure how water got into it. It has sat since November.

I actually have a guy that's wants the tracks off of it. Remember they are mismatched and worn. This was the reason I decided to start now. Happy to get rid of them. Nothing is easy, is it? Especially where crawlers are concerned. Plan B tomorrow.
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Post by DiggerLarry » Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:10 pm

I have the tracks out from under her. Sold for the price of scrap. The guy is going to put tracks under a IH cub. That should be interesting.

I started removing the pads from the replacement set. Most of the pad bolts are requiring heat and the impact wrench to get the nuts off. I am planning to sandblast them, give 'em a shot of primer and put them on so I can move her to the shop.

I put some magic juice in the cylinders to see if I can soak them free. I am guessing I'll have to pull the head, at least. I'm sure I'll have to tow it around the house as I'm sure I will not get it running to move it under it's own power.

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Post by DiggerLarry » Thu May 01, 2014 9:54 pm

I spent most of the day with a torch and impact wrench, sitting on a bucket. I feel like I have about ruined a good IR impact wrench. It was leaking oil pretty bad by the time I finished. All the pads are off the chain. It was a beautiful day in the Carolinas but this was a hard day. I will load all the pads and the chain up and go to the club shop tomorrow were I have access to a sandblast rig.
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Stan Disbrow
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Post by Stan Disbrow » Fri May 02, 2014 4:40 am

Hi,

I hope you don't have to do what I had to on my 'M' to get the pistons out. The oil rings were so rusted into the bores, I had to chisel out the tops of both pistons and use a hub puller from a Ford Model 'A' to yank them out the top.....

Probably not, though, since it ran last fall. The 'M' had sat several years outside with no rain can.....

Where abouts around Charlotte? I used to be one of those nut case racers, so know my way around a bit. ;)

Stan
There's No Such Thing As A Cheap Crawler!

Useta Have: '58 JD 420c 5-roller w/62 inside blade
Useta Have: '78 JD350C w/6310 outside blade
Useta Have: '68 JD350, '51 Terratrac GT-25
Have: 1950 M, 2005 x495, 2008 5103 (now known as 5045D)

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Post by DiggerLarry » Sat May 03, 2014 6:27 am

I can't imagine it being stuck so sure I will not have to go to that extreme.

I'm in Lincoln Country on the west side of Lake Norman. Denver/Iron Station area. It's about 20 miles NW of Charlotte. Going to be up in your back yard in a couple of weeks for the Got To Be NC festival at the fairgrounds.
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Stan Disbrow
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Post by Stan Disbrow » Sat May 03, 2014 12:04 pm

Hi,

I used to run Legends Cars on the East Lincoln dirt track. :)

I will also be at the State Fairgrounds with the Sandhills Antique Farm Club. :)

Stan
There's No Such Thing As A Cheap Crawler!

Useta Have: '58 JD 420c 5-roller w/62 inside blade
Useta Have: '78 JD350C w/6310 outside blade
Useta Have: '68 JD350, '51 Terratrac GT-25
Have: 1950 M, 2005 x495, 2008 5103 (now known as 5045D)

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Post by DiggerLarry » Tue May 06, 2014 9:39 am

Pads and chain are sandblasted and have been primed. Man, that's a lot of peices. I think I'm going to move GrubWorm to our club shop instead of restoring it at home. There is a space available and was planning to put one of my rubber tired tractors in there. I think, with the potential engine work and some things I've seen on the track frames, I'm going to put the 40C in there instead.
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Post by DiggerLarry » Sun Nov 09, 2014 10:42 pm

I'm back at it after summer shows and farm duties. The crawler has been moved to club shop. The move proved to be quite a chore. It was dragged into the driveway with a tractor and using 2x4's beneath the rollers. Then a big come-a-long got it onto the trailer and some help from the front end loader on the tractor.

At the shop, I had a skid steer to assist with the unloading. The concrete floor made it somewhat easier to get into place. Still using the 2x4s under the rollers helped with moving it around.

This was a couple of weeks ago and I have removed the blade and frame. I got the oil drained from the engine as the first order of business. Much to my surprise, there was a large amount of water in the oil. Not a good thing and the likely cause of the engine being stuck. About a year ago, I had a fan belt break. By the time I realized what happened, she was pretty hot. Belt changed with no apparent harm. Something must have happened to get water into the oil. I'll get the head off next and see what the top side looks like.
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Paul Buhler
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Post by Paul Buhler » Mon Nov 10, 2014 5:00 pm

Good luck with your project. Sounds like a good plan is in place. Hopefully you aren't anticipating using this machine for a while, and can give it the time, energy, and monies to get it up to your expectations. Have fun; a project on the side can be enjoyable. Paul
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Post by pop pop » Mon Nov 10, 2014 7:50 pm

at first glance i wondered if it was a 430 because of the grille.
is that the standard 40 grille?
good luck and happy wrenching
440icd/602/8a,,440icd/831/ripper,,440icd/831/3pt.,misc. 440 parts, i have 5 of these now, but i can stop anytime :cry:

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DiggerLarry
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Post by DiggerLarry » Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:11 am

That is a 40 grill. It is an old one I just stuck on there to protect the radiator while moving it around. If you look at the first photos, the one that came on the crawler had the left side panel missing. I do have a nice one to finish it off with.

Plan subject to change. I am already finding things and seeing things that will need attention that I didn't notice before. That's always the way it goes, isn't it? I know it will take a while. Already 6 months in and it's not even apart yet. I know the winter will allow more progress.

I got the radiator off last night had dropped it at the radiator shop this morning to be cleaned and checked. It wasn't leaking.
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Post by DiggerLarry » Sun Nov 16, 2014 8:46 pm

Found the reason she wouldn't spin. Rusted cylinders. When I pulled the head off, the head bolts were not very snug. My theory: When the fan belt broke and it got hot, it stretched the head bolts. This let cooling water into the cylinders. So it doesn't look really bad. Maybe, I'm hoping, I can clean it up and not have to bore it. I was told it was rebuilt not long before I got it. It did have good compression.
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Re: 40C Restoration - The Evolution of GrubWorm

Post by DiggerLarry » Tue Mar 22, 2022 10:04 pm

I have not had a lot of time to work on my little 40C. That dreaded thing called a job kept getting in the way. But now, I have retired and with my new found free time, I am already making great progress. I will share some more of my adventures with Grubworm the 40C. First, a shop tool.

I remember a while back, Lavoy shared some pictures of a "cart" he built that holds a crawler. It enabled him to move one around in his shop without it having tracks, or anything else for that matter. I thought, what a great idea. I also have rubber tired JD's and wanted one that would hold any M, 40, 420, 430, irregardless of the final drive configuration or tracks or wheels. This is my version. I was fortunate to have some really big, heavy casters in the shop that can be locked so they don't roll, or swivel, if I don't want them to. I bought some box tubing, channel and u-bolts and here it is. The upright angle has holes at various heights and bolts to the side of the torque tube. I have pads on the other end that mount jack stands to hold up the finals. It's all adjustable to fit whatever I need to put on it. I can move from my work area, to the paint booth or outside to pressure washer or, just turn it around to have better access. That is Grubworm in the background, waiting to get on.

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